Does playing music CD's on my computer reduce potential quality?

[omrizod]

So I read that CD quality is definetly better than mp3 (don't know about wav though). I have a giant stereo set: huge amp, 2 tall speakers, 2 short ones for side, and 1 center. it is connected to my computer with an SPDIF optic cable - but to an 8 year old mobo, no sound card - which might be the problem. So I grabbed some album I got on CD, played it, compared it to YouTube - but it sounds exactly the same! Is it my mobo/soundcard, or should I play it on some DVD player?

 

[Tom Tancredi]

For Soundsnobs (no offense but they tend to be) this is a real 'mad science' but the key elements for true clarity involves making sure of total digitial only pants. If you want the hiss and other sounds then introducing analog equipment to the mix will also change the sounds. So you would need a dedicated high end quality sound card that does nothing but work on the sound processing, anything less will 'share' resources and thus change the sound quality. For Soundsnobs this is a big deal and can hear the distinct differences that make it a bad experiance. I would highly encoruage you to mainly focus (like your stereo gear) on the right computer parts to match up and provide a pure stream as possible.

 

[g-unit1111]

For Soundsnobs (no offense but they tend to be) this is a real 'mad science' but the key elements for true clarity involves making sure of total digitial only pants.

I think that kind of mentality mainly comes from vinyl-philes. PC audio technology has advanced a lot the last few years and while it won't replicate the true vinyl sound, most people who aren't vinyl-philes won't be able to notice the difference.

 

[omrizod]

For Soundsnobs (no offense but they tend to be) this is a real 'mad science' but the key elements for true clarity involves making sure of total digitial only pants. If you want the hiss and other sounds then introducing analog equipment to the mix will also change the sounds. So you would need a dedicated high end quality sound card that does nothing but work on the sound processing, anything less will 'share' resources and thus change the sound quality. For Soundsnobs this is a big deal and can hear the distinct differences that make it a bad experiance. I would highly encoruage you to mainly focus (like your stereo gear) on the right computer parts to match up and provide a pure stream as possible.

I'm gonna buy (some day when I'll have money, lol) an Asus STRIX SOAR 7.1 PCIe Gaming sound card, since I'm gonna get a Razer Tiamat 7.1 (I know it's really not good for music, I'm getting it because I'm all about surround when gaming).
Is the sound card good enough?

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Should be. You can also look into the Sound Cards used by Beat Music Mixers and such, as they need precise multiple tones and such. That is as far as I know due to it being a real 'black magic' area and I don't particularly hear much difference between a DVD playing, a MP3 playing or a 'live concert' it all sounds 'the same' to me 😛

 

[jsmithepa]

If it's coming out of your PC via optical, the PC is not doing any processing it's merely handing you the digital signal as read, am not surprised it sounds identical.

If you are playing from a SACD and your PC is not SACD capable then OK, u may hear a difference.

So if you keep it optical, I don't see why you would need a dedicated sound board.

The way you are doing it is the correct way, keep decoding/analog stuff OUT of the noisy PC box, IMO.

 

[omrizod]

Should be. You can also look into the Sound Cards used by Beat Music Mixers and such, as they need precise multiple tones and such. That is as far as I know due to it being a real 'black magic' area and I don't particularly hear much difference between a DVD playing, a MP3 playing or a 'live concert' it all sounds 'the same' to me 😛

Ohh I hear a HUGE difference between MP3 and Wav (i.e. Soundcloud). Soo many times, I've listened to a song on youtube, then soundcloud and I find out there's another or even several layers of beat that I didn't get on youtube